Former Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has argued that repeated coups and political instability have held back Thailand’s economic growth over the past two decades, while calling for military resources to be used more productively.
Thanathorn, now chair of the Progressive Movement, made the comments on September 19 at a Bangkok seminar marking 20 years since the 2006 military coup. His speech focused on what he described as the political and economic consequences of military intervention, before setting out four proposals for military assets and resources.
Coups and Thailand’s slower growth
Thanathorn said Thailand recorded average annual GDP growth of about 2.6% over the past 20 years, below a global average of 3.3%. Using 2006 as an index of 100, he said Vietnam had risen to around 300, Indonesia and the Philippines to about 250, while Thailand reached 162.
He argued that repeated political disruption contributed to Thailand falling behind regional competitors, although that link represents his political and economic analysis rather than an official finding.
Thanathorn placed those figures within a wider criticism of Thailand’s political development since the 2006 coup. By his count, the following two decades brought three constitutions and 10 prime ministers, five of whom left office following Constitutional Court rulings, as well as nine major party dissolutions, two annulled elections and another coup in 2014.
He also argued that the period contributed to what he called a bloated bureaucratic state, citing an increase in government agencies from 166 to 225, a public-sector workforce of around 3 million and a national budget of 3.8 trillion baht.
Thanathorn said government interest payments were projected to reach 13.6% of state revenue by 2029, which he warned would leave less money available for areas such as education and welfare.
Military assets under scrutiny
Thanathorn said his proposals were intended to move beyond criticism of past coups and show how existing military resources could contribute more directly to economic development and public services.
He cited military holdings including 71 golf courses, 196 radio stations, 12 buildings and hotels and more than 5.8 million rai of land. He argued that assets not essential to defence could be managed differently while the armed forces retained strong combat capabilities.
One example was the Royal Thai Army’s Ram Inthra International Convention Hall, which Thanathorn valued at 3.4 billion baht and said had been unused for around three years. He proposed transferring it to the Treasury Department for private operation, estimating that it could generate about 3 billion baht in rental income over 20 years.
He also backed converting the Royal Thai Air Force’s Thupatemi Golf Course in Pathum Thani into a large public park, with part of the Phahonyothin Road frontage developed as a transport hub linking the Red and Green rail lines. Thanathorn said the park could serve more than 300,000 people living nearby.
A third proposal involved upgrading the Royal Thai Navy’s electricity operation in Sattahip and using the area to test smart-grid technology. His fourth focused on domestically developed defence systems, including AI and sensor-based border surveillance that could also be adapted for wildfire detection and disaster monitoring.
Thanathorn said his experience working with military representatives through the House committee had convinced him that some within the armed forces also wanted reform.
He presented the proposals as a way to combine military capability with more productive use of state resources, rather than reducing the armed forces’ defence role.
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